Hello

I wonder if someone can help me. We have a small pond in the garden that did
have 4 lovely goldfish in it. Over the summer they disappeared, not sure what
happened, and we assumed there was nothing in there. However, in September we
noticed 2 little beautiful black baby fish swimming merrily around. They're
only about 2 inches long. My question is what do we do over the winter? Do fish
need feeding in the winter or do we leave them?

Any help gratefully received.

Cheers

Emma

"Eshymouse" wrote in message
...
Hello

I wonder if someone can help me. We have a small pond in the garden that
did
have 4 lovely goldfish in it. Over the summer they disappeared, not sure
what
happened, and we assumed there was nothing in there. However, in September
we
noticed 2 little beautiful black baby fish swimming merrily around.
They're
only about 2 inches long. My question is what do we do over the winter? Do
fish
need feeding in the winter or do we leave them?

Any help gratefully received.

Cheers

Emma

Leave 'em. Fish stop feeding when the temp drops below about 50 deg F. ANy
food you put in then will just rot. Besides which, if there are only a few
fish, there will be enough natural food for them to get by on anyway, even
in the summer, though its always nice to feed them and see them come up.
Next spring/summer they may change colour to that of their parents.

--
Tumbleweed

Remove theobvious before replying (but no email reply necessary to
newsgroups)

"Eshymouse" wrote in message
...
Hello

I wonder if someone can help me. We have a small pond in the garden that
did
have 4 lovely goldfish in it. Over the summer they disappeared, not sure
what
happened, and we assumed there was nothing in there. However, in September
we
noticed 2 little beautiful black baby fish swimming merrily around.
They're
only about 2 inches long. My question is what do we do over the winter? Do
fish
need feeding in the winter or do we leave them?

Any help gratefully received.

Just break the ice regularly so as to expose some of the surface of the
water to the air.

Franz

"Franz Heymann" wrote in message
...

"Eshymouse" wrote in message
...
Hello

I wonder if someone can help me. We have a small pond in the garden that
did
have 4 lovely goldfish in it. Over the summer they disappeared, not sure
what
happened, and we assumed there was nothing in there. However, in
September
we
noticed 2 little beautiful black baby fish swimming merrily around.
They're
only about 2 inches long. My question is what do we do over the winter?
Do
fish
need feeding in the winter or do we leave them?

Any help gratefully received.

Just break the ice regularly so as to expose some of the surface of the
water to the air.

Franz

Don't break the ice - the shock waves could kill them.
I did a similar dumb thing and stunned a number of our fish - and I should
know better as I was once a Marine Biologist.
Hi-tech way is to get a pond heater - just a small heater which floats in a
foam collar - which keeps an area clear of ice.
Lo-tech way is a bucket of hot water to melt a hole in the ice now and then.

Cheers
Dave (fish killer) R

"David W.E. Roberts" wrote in message
...

"Franz Heymann" wrote in message
...

"Eshymouse" wrote in message
...
Hello
snip
Any help gratefully received.

Just break the ice regularly so as to expose some of the surface of the
water to the air.

Franz

Don't break the ice - the shock waves could kill them.
I did a similar dumb thing and stunned a number of our fish - and I should
know better as I was once a Marine Biologist.
Hi-tech way is to get a pond heater - just a small heater which floats in
a
foam collar - which keeps an area clear of ice.
Lo-tech way is a bucket of hot water to melt a hole in the ice now and
then.

Cheers
Dave (fish killer) R

Or a couple of ping pong balls floating on the surface.
If it freezes, pull one of the balls out/pour warm water on one.

This releases any trapped gas under the ice which causes lots of problems to
fish.

Dave

In article , David W.E.
Roberts writes

Hi-tech way is to get a pond heater - just a small heater which floats in a
foam collar - which keeps an area clear of ice.
Lo-tech way is a bucket of hot water to melt a hole in the ice now and then.


I keep the waterfall thing going very gently which stops that end of the
pond totally freezing in winter
janet
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

Emma wrote in message
I wonder if someone can help me. We have a small pond in the garden that
did
have 4 lovely goldfish in it. Over the summer they disappeared, not sure
what
happened, and we assumed there was nothing in there. However, in September
we
noticed 2 little beautiful black baby fish swimming merrily around.
They're
only about 2 inches long. My question is what do we do over the winter? Do
fish
need feeding in the winter or do we leave them?


With only two small fish in your pond, the others being eaten probably by
herons before you were even awake, you will never need to feed your fish.
Certainly if you feed fish with the normal dried food much below 50°F they
will be unable to digest it quickly enough to avoid it rotting in their guts
with dire consequences for them come spring. Don't forget they are cold
blooded so go almost dormant in cold water.
Young Goldfish are often black and unfortunately they often fail to ever
change colour, it's their natural colour after all. I've always thought that
temperature plays a part in the changing of their colour so you might get a
pleasant surprise come next summer. But then the heron will be back too for
an easily seen meal!
If your pond freezes totally over for more than a few days you will need to
provide an open area to allow gas exchange to take place between the water
and the air to avoid the build up of toxic gasses in the water, and the best
way to achieve that is to place a large ball in there pond now and take it
out when it freezes, thereafter melt a hole with a sauce pan of hot water
stood on the ice. Never hit the ice, you could damage the spine of the fish
and kill them, you would be acting exactly like a depth charge against a
submarine.

--
Regards
Bob

Use a useful Screen Saver...
http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/
and find intelligent life amongst the stars, there's bugger all down here.

"Franz Heymann" wrote in message
...
Just break the ice regularly so as to expose some of the surface of the
water to the air.

Franz

Be very careful doing this - you could easily stun the fish. Best practice
is to float a football on the pond. If it ices up for more than a day, lift
out the ball to expose a hole. If you wish you can then increase the size by
breaking the ice "up" rather than whacking it down.

In very cold winters I dangle an ordinary aquarium heater just below the
surface. It's sufficient to maintain a permanent air hole.

"Janet Tweedy" wrote I keep the waterfall thing
going very gently which stops that end of the
pond totally freezing in winter

I do this too, but I have been told it's really a bad practice because you
are constantly drawing water up from the warmer pond and chilling it in the
air and on the rocks of the waterfall. Although it keeps part of the pond
clear and oxygenates the water, it also reduces the temperature of the whole
pond. (apparently when the pond freezes a gap is produced under the ice
which helps to "insulate" the pond)
But I still keep it running because of the aeration!

every time I have tried this "floating a ball on the water" trick the ice
just formed under the ball pushing it up above the surface.
I have a UV filter which provides enough warmth via the bulb to keep the
pond from freezing.

Andy P


"Sad Sid" . wrote in message
...

"Franz Heymann" wrote in message
...
Just break the ice regularly so as to expose some of the surface of the
water to the air.

Franz

Be very careful doing this - you could easily stun the fish. Best practice
is to float a football on the pond. If it ices up for more than a day,
lift
out the ball to expose a hole. If you wish you can then increase the size
by
breaking the ice "up" rather than whacking it down.

In very cold winters I dangle an ordinary aquarium heater just below the
surface. It's sufficient to maintain a permanent air hole.

Keep a suitable floating object in the pond to stop it all iceing up.
Thats about all you need to do.

--
email farmer chris on
Please don`t use as it`s a spam haven.

"David W.E. Roberts" wrote in message
...

"Franz Heymann" wrote in message
...

"Eshymouse" wrote in message
...
Hello

I wonder if someone can help me. We have a small pond in the garden
that
did
have 4 lovely goldfish in it. Over the summer they disappeared, not
sure
what
happened, and we assumed there was nothing in there. However, in
September
we
noticed 2 little beautiful black baby fish swimming merrily around.
They're
only about 2 inches long. My question is what do we do over the
winter?
Do
fish
need feeding in the winter or do we leave them?

Any help gratefully received.

Just break the ice regularly so as to expose some of the surface of the
water to the air.

Franz

Don't break the ice - the shock waves could kill them.
I did a similar dumb thing and stunned a number of our fish - and I should
know better as I was once a Marine Biologist.
Hi-tech way is to get a pond heater - just a small heater which floats in
a
foam collar - which keeps an area clear of ice.
Lo-tech way is a bucket of hot water to melt a hole in the ice now and
then.

Yes. Actually I used to use a blowlamp to make a hole throught the ice. It
worked.

Franz

"David W.E. Roberts" wrote in message
...

snip
My question is what do
we do over the
winter?
Do
fish
need feeding in the winter or do we leave them?

Any help gratefully received.


We have a submerged re-circulating water pump running all year round
about 18 inches below the surface and the small amount of heat that it
generates keeps a hole clear in the ice. No feeding required.

--
ned

(Eshymouse) wrote in message ...
Hello

I wonder if someone can help me. We have a small pond in the garden that did
have 4 lovely goldfish in it. Over the summer they disappeared, not sure what
happened, and we assumed there was nothing in there. However, in September we
noticed 2 little beautiful black baby fish swimming merrily around. They're
only about 2 inches long. My question is what do we do over the winter? Do fish
need feeding in the winter or do we leave them?

Any help gratefully received.

Cheers

Emma

You don't need much aeration in the winter as water at low
temperatures dissolves more oxygen and gold fish being cold blooded
need very little oxygen in the winter as their metabolic rate slows
right down.However if you can keep a hole clear of ice then it allows
any harmful gases to escape. The black fish may not change colour or
they may take from a few weeks to a number of years to change. Leaving
the pump running is probably beneficial overall.
Tony Bull
www.caterpillarofuntain.co.uk

herons is a most annoying predator. So why don't you use pond netting to save your fishes from them.